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Xykon Decoys
During the Battle of Azure City (described in War and XPs), Redcloak created and employed three decoys for Xykon, successfully creating a distraction and a degree of confusion among the defenders. The ruse was first encountered when the party realized that figures resembling Xykon were commanding three different elements of the army. Their origin is subsequently explained by Redcloak.Comic #431, "My Three Xykons" The original inspiration seems to have come from an idea given to Redcloak unintentionally by Xykon.Comic #416, "It's Battlicious! Redcloak was in possession of the D&D 3.0 supplements, Monster Manual II, Fiend Folio, and Book of Vile Darkness, where he found the information about the three free-willed skeletal undead that he sought. No magical measures were taken to make them look like Xykon; Redcloak just gave them similar clothing and differently colored pendants for differentiation. Soon after their first appearance Haley Starshine deduced that they were seeing a classic "shell game" situation and that the true Xykon was actually hidden from view, seeking maximum benefit from the distraction and confusion created by the symultaneous appearance of the decoys; while Hinjo and Roy Greenhilt initially assumed that only two of the Xykons were decoys, in truth all three were, while Xykon himself attempted to reach the Throne Room using a zombie dragon as a mount,Comic #428, "It Takes a Thief" both of them protected by Greater Invisibility.Comic #429, "Stay on Target..." Sangwaan acted quickly on Haley's tip and discovered Xykon in time for Roy to intercept him. The Eye of Fear and Flame The Eye of Fear and Flame, also known as Skullsy, could be distinguished from the other decoys by his orange-colored pendant, as well as his very rounded eyes.Comic #431, "My Three Xykons" He was noticeably lacking in courage, which Redcloak cited to giving it more Fear than Flame, but nonetheless was sent to lead the Southern Division of the invading forces.Comic #426, "Three of a Kind" He had the misfortune of running into Belkar Bitterleaf, who promptly decapitated him and used his head as a weapon.Comic #450, "Wands Are for Suckers" Belkar had a lot of sadistic fun with him, until he finally pushed the cowardly undead too far, leading to an attempt at rebellion that pushed Haley Starshine into destroying him for good.Comic #455, "Incoming!"Comic #469, "Crossbones" The Eye of Fear and Flame was originally published in the 1981 Fiend Folio and was updated for D&D 3.0 in Book of Vile Darkness, published in 2002. Possibly because his eyes are supposed to be gemstones, or possibly to exhibit fear, the comic drawings show them noticeably more round than those of Xykon or of the other two decoys. His main power was the ability to project fireballs and fear beams from his gemstone eyes. The Death Knight The Death Knight could be distinguished from the other decoys by his green-colored pendant. He had an aggressive streak and rode an undead, skeletal horse while leading the third part of the Hobgoblin forces that charged towards the breach in Azure City's wall that had been created by Redcloak's Titanium Elementals.Comic #423, "Periodic Bombardment"Comic #424, "A Wizard's Work" Despite quick action by Vaarsuvius and the Azure City forces to fix and defend the breach,Comic #427, "They're Just Another Brick in the Wall" eventually there were so many dead hobgoblin bodies that the Death Knight actually managed to use them as a ramp to assault the still barely-mended wall.Comic #436, "Non-Military Intelligence" His spell resistance proved inconvenient to Vaarsuvius, but he still lost his mount almost immediatelyComic #437, "Battle Momentum" His self-confidence proved justified when he caused heavy casualties among the Azure City soldiers, including the General himself.Comic #440, "Flew the Coop" Still, he ended up defeated by the unexpected fall of the head of the zombie dragon that Xykon rode at the time,Comic #441, "Getting Ahead and Staying Ahead" in what Vaarsuvius would later call "a thinly veiled deus ex machina." The Death Knight was originally published in the 1981 Fiend Folio and was updated for D&D 3.0 as a character template in Monster Manual II, published in 2002, and for D&D 3.5 in the 2003 Dragonlance Campaign Setting. Like all Death Knights, this creature had several powerful abilities, including the ability to call its skeletal undead mount,, the supernatural Abyssal Blast ability, and powerful spell resistance. The Huecuva The Huecuva could be distinguished from the other decoys by his purple-colored pendant. He had access to the Cleric spells "Protection from Good", "Divine Power", "Poison" and "Harm", as well as "Burning Hands". Initially held in the rear, the Huecuva was ordered to the front lines with a few thousand Hobgoblins to help the Eye of Fear and Flame in the Sourthern group of invaders after Redcloak realized that the true Xykon had been noticed by Azure City's defenders. He failed to save the Eye of Fear and Flame from Belkar, but still managed to intercept Hinjo when he attempted to relieve the wall breach that was just then falling to the invaders, despite having been ordered to retreat.Comic #451, "Change of Direction" He promptly found himself in conflict with Kubota's ninjas that had also been sent to kill Hinjo, which distracted him enough to be finally slain by Durkon Thundershield.Comic #453, "Heck of a Fight" A Huecuva is an undead, accursed priest. It was first published as a monster in the 1981 Fiend Folio and again in the Fiend Folio published in 2003 for D&D 3.0 in which it is presented as both a monster and as an acquired character template. References Category:Evil Characters Category:Team Evil Category:Undead Characters